1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vacuum cleaning machine wherein a carpet can be sprayed with a cleaning solution, agitated with a rotary brush to scrub the carpet and vacuumed to remove the dirty cleaning solution or dry vacuumed.
2. Description of Prior Art
The U.S. Pat. No. to Blase et al., 5,398,373, issued Mar. 21, 1995, discloses a deep cleaning machine in which a power head is adapted to spray and clean a carpet and is also capable of dry vacuuming a carpeting. A rotary brush is driven by a motor in the head to agitate the carpet. The U.S. Pat. No. to Salmon, 5,075,920, issued, December 1991, discloses a machine to carry out the same function.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Knestele, 4,349,935, issued Sep. 21, 1982, discloses a carpet cleaning machine in which a rotary brush and a carpet shampoo massager are mounted on a rockable arm so that one of the functions of shampoo application or carpet agitation is carried out alternately or neither of the functions is carried out. A suction nozzle 32 is provided between the foam dispenser and the agitator brush to remove liquid from the carpet. Suction can also be applied to the carpet through the brush opening.
The Jones et al. U.S. Patent No. 4,457,042, issued Jul. 3, 1984, and the Glenn, III et al. U.S. Patent No. 4,447,930, issued May 15, 1984, disclose carpet cleaning machines in which a dry chemical carpet cleaning powder is dispensed and agitated into the carpet by a brush and then vacuumed with the assistance of the same brush. The brush rotates counter-clockwise when the powder is distributed and clockwise when the powder is vacuumed. Switches for power, clean and vacuum are mounted on a bracket on the suction/spray hose.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Satterfield, 4,245,371, issued Jan. 20, 1981, discloses a carpet cleaning machine which can be used as a carpet scrubber or a vacuum cleaner. It dispenses a powder but only when the brush of the cleaning head is operated. The suction cannot be used without the brush agitator.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Laing et al., 4,512,057, issued Apr. 23, 1985, discloses a dry powder carpet cleaning machine which can be used as a vacuum cleaner and as a carpet cleaning machine. There do not appear to be any controls for agitation by itself or for powder dispensing by itself.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Yonkers et al., 5,287,587, issued Feb. 22, 1994, discloses a deep cleaning machine for use with a conventional hose, wand and cleaning head, the latter of which has a spray nozzle for spraying a solution onto a carpet and a suction nozzle opening for extracting dirty liquid from the carpet. The dirty liquid is transported through a hose to a canister in which the dirty water is separated from air. A liquid cleaning solution in the canister is pumped through a pump to the spray nozzle. A vacuum motor in the top of the canister drives an impeller to draw a suction in the hose. A single switch operates the spray and pump and the vacuum motor. A deep cleaning machine of this description has been sold by BISSELL Inc. under the mark BIG GREEN CLEAN MACHINE with separate switches for the spray pump and the vacuum motor.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Dyson et al., 5,101,532, issued Apr. 7, 1992, discloses a dry powder dispensing and cleaning machine. The machine has a switch for controlling the dispensing of a dry cleaning powder and agitating the carpet.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Jacobs, 4,782,550, issued Nov. 8, 1988, discloses a programmable deep cleaning machine in which a brush and suction are operated by the same motor and a foam is distributed separately.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Miller et al., 4,845,802, issued Jul. 11, 1989, discloses a carpet cleaning attachment for an existing carpet cleaner device having a flexible attachment hose wherein the attachment is capable of extracting both wet and dry materials.
The U.S. Pat. No. to Lee et al., 5,210,902, issued May 18, 1983, discloses a vacuum cleaner in which a conventional canister vacuum cleaning machine is connected to a liquid separator and collector for dirty water.